The Recruiting Revolution Blog

On May 2nd the Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription required) published a summary of research done by the Maguire Associates that gave the impression that only 5% of colleges in the study utilized email as a recruiting and communication tool.

Unfortunately, this information is very misleading - in fact, grossly inaccurate.

In an email exchange with the two researchers who did the study, I was told today that the Chronicle summarized the answers provided in an open-ended “Other” option, in which some participants listed “Email” as an answer. Email was not one of the options to choose from.

It surprised us at TargetX because we know that most colleges use email to recruit and communicate and very few use, for example, podcasts (which was listed as 15% of respondents compared to the published 5% indicating email).

These were the options provided in the survey:

Admissions office website
Current student blogs
Faculty blogs
Instant messaging
Live Webcam from one or more campus sites
Online/web chats
Personalization of the School’s website according to prospect preferences
Podcasts
Text messaging
Virtual campus tour
Other (please specify)____________.

For what is a fine research study by our friends at Maguire, it’s unfortunate the Chronicle of Higher Education screwed it up.

We’ve been talking for a few years now that colleges need to be more focused on the yield part of the enrollment funnel than anywhere else. Much of the budget gets put toward the top of the funnel and converting those prospects into applicants. But none of that matters unless they enroll. And doing so for many this year has proved to be a challenge.

Last night I sat on the porch with my neighbors whose daughter, Katie (as you may remember from previous posts) is a high school senior. She has made her choice for where she’ll attend next year, but you may be amazed at how the process went near the end. I thought I’d share with you her “yield” story on deciding to attend West Virginia University.

In January Katie was admitted regular decision to WVU. In February she submitted a housing deposit. Only a couple of weeks after that she had her room assignment and roommate.

(go ahead and re-read that last paragraph - I’ll wait)

Yes, more than 2 months before the May 1st deposit deadline, Katie had her room and roommate all taken care of. For many of you those are tasks that take place during the summer months. And between admission to deposit to final enrollment (aka showing up on campus) is where the risk lies for your institution.

But for Katie, this proactive, unique effort by WVU helped seal the deal - the college in Florida where she initially thought would be where she would attend suddenly was off the list and Katie quickly became a “mountaineer.”

I have to commend WVU for pulling off the seemingly impossible - coordinate with the housing department a “mountainous” effort to help the admissions office “exceed expectations” and enroll Katie and I’m sure thousands of others.

Congrats to both Katie and WVU!

Today we officially announced a new philanthropic effort at TargetX called “The Power of X”. It’s based on an ingenious program started in 2000 by Salesforce.com founder Marc Benioff. There are three pieces to the program - 1% of equity, 1% of product and 1% of time.

To be honest, I’m a bit embarrassed that we didn’t start this program sooner - 2008 is the 10th anniversary of TargetX. But as the saying goes, better late than never. And the entire TargetX team is excited about what we’re able to do from our success to help others.

To learn more about our program, click here:
http://www.targetx.com/powerofx

A couple of weeks ago I received information about a speech I’m giving to an international conference on recruiting and marketing. They sent along a PowerPoint template I’m required to use as well as tips on proper presentation technique.

Let’s put aside for the moment that I …

(a) hate PowerPoint (I’m a huge Apple Keynote fan)
(b) been giving presentations at national conferences since 1993
(c) taught graduate classes on effective presentation skills, and
(d) value a plain black background on my slides with as little content on them as necessary.

I don’t like to give out handouts and I don’t stand behind a podium. I want my audience to think - not just read, not just listen - but to interact (and did I mention, to think).

So as you can imagine and picture, this template is cluttered with graphics on the side and bottom with words and slogans and logos leaving about 60% of the space for my content (what little content there will be, as is my style). There is not one reason I can think of that this &@*%! needs to be there.

If you’re a veteran presenter or a novice (and if you’re a novice, I cheer you on - I think it’s great for your career!), you need to read “Presentation Zen” by Garr Reynolds. Simple ideas on presentation design and delivery, is the subtitle. It sits on my shelf right next to “Don’t Make me Think” and “Defensive Design for the Web” - all excellent books for presenters, programmers and designers.

After 15+ years of presenting, I learned an awful lot from this book - especially when it comes to effective slide design to emphasize your point. And don’t skip the forward - it’s written by my favorite “former-Apple” guy, Guy Kawasaki (who wrote “How to Drive Your Competition Crazy“). Happy reading. Happy presenting!

I was talking with a colleague at another firm today who said he has flown 80 times so far this year. Yikes! That reminded me while I’ve been traveling a little bit so far in 2008, Sunday begins the Spring/Summer travel season for all of us higher ed vendors.

I join my colleague Jeff Kallay at OACAC in Columbus, OH Sunday. Looking forward to it. There are so many great colleges in Ohio! Then I’m off to NAGAP in Denver - one of my favorite cities and where the speaking circuit all started for me back in 1993 when I spoke on what “WWW” meant to a crowd of easily over 450 people. Oh, those were good times!

After that it’s off to Chicago four times this summer including the TargetX workshops (after we run them in Las Vegas and Boston, later in the year in Charlotte), Aslanian Group, GMAC’s Annual Conference and the Princeton Review’s client conference.

In between there I’ll be in D.C., Cincinnati, Atlantic City and end the heavy travel season in Seattle at NACAC.

Oh, did I mention this is the fifth year for iDrink - the popular social event TargetX loves to host at NACAC? We normally get about 350-450 people to this fun time out at a unique place in the host city. Hint for where it will be this year - you better pray you can get in! And if you haven’t heard, we’re running a very unique event just before NACAC called iThink. Details to follow, but bring your ideas to the wonderful city of Seattle in September.

Hey, I can’t complain. I love my job. If only the TSA would cooperate. Haha! See you on the road! Time to go pack …

Living in the Philadelphia area and working for a competitor of Villanova University, I know what winning the national basketball tournament means to enrollment. This suburban Philadelphia college leveraged their championship season in 1985 to grow their enrollment and national reach for years (perhaps relying on it for too many years). Gonzaga University entered the tournament in 1995 and while they didn’t win the tournament, they’ve become a household name because of their regular appearance in the madness.

This year the story is Davidson College. Not only did they make it into the elite eight (writing this Saturday, March 29th), but the college knows what Villanova and Gonzaga experienced. The college will pay for any student who wants to see their team play in Detroit - tickets, hotel and a bus ride (al be it 649 miles). Wow! Talk about exceeding expectations!

I’m not a big fan of how much it costs to offer competitive collegiate athletics. I know that’s probably a surprise to most of you. I know, I’ve heard the story - they bring in the bucks so we need to spend money to get money. But that’s only for a few of the teams and a minority of schools - football and only some men’s basketball (ok, and Tennessee and UConn’s women’s basketball teams and some other exceptions can be found). But college’s are in business to educate - and I think when more Millennial’s with GenX’er parents come on campus, we’ll see a shift of what they will deem acceptable with regard to what may be considered frivolous to them.

But when you’ve got it, flaunt it. I love what Davidson is doing. It doesn’t come often for a small school. Take advantage of it when it comes. You’ve made a fan out of me. Go Cat’s!

UPDATE:
Here are some bullet points about Davidson from my colleague Jeff Kallay, TargetX’s Experience Evangelist:

• ranked #9 National Liberal Arts Colleges
• has a 30% acceptance rate
• benefits from $425 million in endowment
• had only 42% applying for needs based aid (only 32% awarded)
• has the famous laundry service - not free laundry machines, but an actually laundry service where students’ laundry is done for them.

Each year we follow two students to see what they are receiving - this year it’s Bob Mootz’s son, Craig, and my stepson, Julius. They forward their emails they receive to us and give us their mail when they’re done reading it (most of the time unopened).

I’ve always had a nagging and irritating question about search campaigns that try to be cute (any campaign for that matter). Today Craig received two emails from two different colleges with similar subject lines that really bug me.

Here are the subject lines of five emails that bug me (trust me, there are others that bug me, but I’ve decided to focus just on these for the moment):

“Are you getting my emails?”
“Is this Craig’s email address?”
“Correct email address?”
“Is this still your e-mail address, Craig?”
“Is this the correct email?”

I posed this question on TargetX’s Knowledge Center - a new social networking site for clients and non-clients to join and participate in the discussions. I encourage you to join today:

knowledgecenter.targetx.com

My question is: (a) is this a pathetic tactic that isn’t worth the digital ones and zeros it was sent as or (b) is it brilliant and I’m just not smart enough to get it?

Look forward to reading your thoughts in the Knowledge Center - I won’t be offended

This week, TargetX launched a new Knowledge Center today to replace one of the most popular pages on our website. This time it’s embracing the social revolution. Check it out at http://knowledgecenter.targetx.com, log in, and participate in the conversation!

Tis the season for college sophomores and juniors to begin their college search. And for the past near 20 years I’ve been either on the other side of the admissions table, helping colleges with their efforts, or helping friends navigate the process. But this time, it’s my turn.

Introducing my step-son, Julius. Jman, as I like to call him (or Dr. J since he’s now taller than me and has size 16 shoes) is a high school sophomore, excellent student and highly successful baseball catcher. Last month it all started with the mail and last week we visited our first campus.

First the mail. I never thought being the first in the mailbox, as has been the goal of many colleges, was really worth the effort. But Julius showed me the way to the truth. He was excited about receiving the first envelope, was surprised to get the second one, and after that just passed the envelopes on to me, unopened. So much for direct mail.

Last week we were on vacation in Florida and took one rainy day to visit my wife’s niece, Erika, at the University of Miami. (Full disclosure: UMiami is a long-time client of TargetX and the Associate Director and I used to work together in admissions)

Julius and His Cousin Erika

Julius and His New Friend and UMiami Mascot

We didn’t take a formal tour but opted instead to walk Erika to class, find lunch on our own, and then visit the admissions office to say hi and get Julius “on the list.” But since it was Presidents’ Week, they were packed with visitors and we passed more than a few group tours. They seemed to handle the crowds well but I didn’t see them take advantage of the many signature moments I noticed including the live crocodile that crawled out of the pond to say hi to us.

The Missed Signature Moment (yes, it’s real!)

We all agreed that the University of Miami is a beautiful campus, the facilities were very nice including the communications building (Julius is interested in communications as a major - ESPN’s next sports commentary after, of course, playing professional ball!).

Even Mom is Sold Already

So now it begins. Where to next? What will arrive in the mail and what makes him want to at least open it (if not actually read it)? When will he get his first email from search (nothing has arrived yet even though he, in my professional opinion, is an attractive prospect to many colleges)?

I’ll keep you posted and share with you Julius’ as well as other students we’re following (including Bob Mootz’s (TargetX VP of Sales) son, Craig) experiences along their journey from sophomore year to enrollment.

First, happy valentine’s day! Guys, don’t forget the flowers on the way home. Gals, when you get the present we picked out for you, don’t forget to consider the fact that men are from mars and women are from venus (but that assumes we’re both in the same galaxy).

Today I bring you a video - embracing the YouTube generation here, so stay with me for a moment. The video highlights a concept we talk with colleges often about - stop speaking AT your audience (students, parents, etc.) and start embracing the conversation. I’m sure everyone reading this blog has involved themselves in the social networking revolution themselves, but have you made the leap from personal involvement to professionally integrating the concept?

The video is done by a popular advertising agency meant to point out that advertisers just don’t understand today’s consumers. It’s time to embrace them, talk with them, not at them, and keep the conversation going. Enjoy!